Media do a walk-about at Emirates Airline Park. Picture: X/City of Joburg
Joburg’s mayor cut the ribbon, so to speak, on a revitalised Ellis Park Precinct ahead of the Springboks and All Blacks rugby match on Saturday.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Dada Morero identified how infrastructure and facilities had been repaired, cleaned and returned to working order over the past few months.
Facilities at the stadium itself, Emirates Airline Park, have also been upgraded.
The event included the reopening of Ellis Park Station for the first time since it was closed in the 1980s.
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The mayor said the city’s decision to revitalise the precinct was compelled by a motive to “bring life back to the area”.
He said the rejuvenation project included cleaning streets and ensuring transport points were in order.
This means the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) will also return services to the station. Spectators have been encouraged to use the Gautrain to go to Park Station and then use the Prasa line to reach the stadium.
Street lights and potholes have also been repaired and security will be beefed up for Saturday’s rugby game.
This while the area outside the station has been spruced up so Park And Ride and e-hailing can be done conveniently and safely.
“We also see this game as an opportunity to revitalise the entire precinct and bring it back to its former glory,” the mayor said.
Morero added future rugby games will benefit from this.
“We are calling on the private and business sectors to support us as we change the face of this city.”
He said he hoped many Joburg residents would attend the rugby match, as sports is a unifying aspect of society.
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Golden Lions Rugby Union president Neville Jardine described the refresh as the “good news we have all been waiting for”.
He said the revitalisation of the station revealed how the city and government can work together.
“The most important thing for us… is to make sure that we keep the precinct in this great condition and that we provide the platform and the safe environment for all of our spectators.”
He said he looked forward to hosting 62 000 fans at the “home of the Springboks” on Saturday.
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The union’s managing director, Pieter Burger, revealed that the foyer, medical facility and changerooms at the stadium had also been upgraded.
Burger said that many South Africans have become jaded and disillusioned about service delivery.
In fact, when he was told the Prasa station would get up and running again he laughed.
However, in three and a half weeks the station had been restored and looked “almost brand new”, he said.
“There are serious, huge improvements, strides forward.”
He said he hoped this was just the beginning and more would be done.
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Head of maintenance at the rugby union, Stephan Janse Van Vuuren said it was after the Argentina match in July last year that management realised something had to be done.
The Jozi My Jozi movement, and collaboration between the private sector and city led to the revitalisation of the precinct and stadium.
This came the same day a crowd of Soweto residents marched to the mayor’s office in Braamfontein to demand jobs.
Also, an online petition demanding his removal is gaining tens of thousands of signatures.
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